Marlins exercise Alcantara option, King leaves Padres and Bichette stays with Mets

NEW YORK (AP) — Sandy Alcantara was blocked from becoming a free agent by the Miami Marlins, while Michael King went on the market Friday and Bo Bichette decided to keep his contract with the New York Mets.

Starting pitchers Sonny Gray and Nick Martinez also will become free agents after their teams declined mutual options.

Miami exercised its $21 million option on Alcantara rather than pay a $2 million buyout, a decision that guarantees the pitcher $75 million over six years as part of the deal he agreed to in November 2021.

A 31-year-old right-hander, Alcantara was 13-11 with a 3.87 ERA in 33 starts and three relief appearances this year, his second season following Tommy John surgery.

King, also a 31-year-old right-hander, is a free agent for the second straight offseason after declining a $28 million player option in favor of a $5 million buyout. He agreed in December to a deal guaranteeing $75 million over three seasons that allowed him to end it after one year and $17 million. He was 12-10 with a 3.21 ERA in 32 starts.

King was among 14 new free agents Friday, raising the total to 155 in the two days following the World Series. About 40 more players potentially could go free by Monday, the deadline for exercising options.

Bichette agreed in January to a $126 million, three-year contract with the Mets that included a $40 million signing bonus, a $2 million salary for 2026 and $42 million player options for both 2027 and 2028.

A two-time All-Star shortstop in Toronto, Bichette shifted primarily to third base in New York, where Francisco Lindor plays shortstop. The 28-year-old Bichette hit .260 with 18 homers and 78 RBIs for the disappointing Mets.

AL champion Tampa Bay declined mutual options on Martinez and outfielder Cedric Mullins.

Martinez, 36, had a $20 million mutual option with a $4 million buyout as part of a $13 million, one-year contract. He set a career high for wins, going 15-6 with a 3.10 ERA in 31 starts and became a first-time All-Star, then went 1-1 with a 2.81 ERA in four postseason appearances that included a start in Game 1 of the World Series.

Mullins, 32, hit .205 with 15 homers, 48 RBIs and 21 stolen bases. He had a $7.5 million, one-year deal that included a $10 million mutual option with a $500,000 buyout.

Boston declined a $30 million option on Gray, who gets a $5 million buyout payable in five $1 million installments on each Jan. 15 from 2027-31. If the Red Sox had exercised the option, Gray could have opted out and received the $5 million as a buyout payable on the same dates.

Gray, a right-hander who turns 37 next week, agreed to a $75 million, three-year contract with St. Louis in November 2023 and was traded to Boston last November. He tied for the major league lead with 18 wins this year and posted a 2.72 ERA, his best in a full season.

Dustin May, who started Game 4 of the World Series for Milwaukee on Tuesday, went free when he declined a $20 million mutual option with the World Series champion Brewers in favor of a $500,000 buyout. May agreed to a $12.5 million contract with the Cardinals in December and was acquired by the Brewers at the Aug. 3 trade deadline. The 29-year-old right-hander went 7-9 with a 4.70 ERA in 31 starts.

Chicago Cubs left-hander Matt Boyd and catcher Carson Kelly declined mutual options.

A 35-year-old left-hander, Boyd agreed to a $29 million, two-year contract before the 2024 season that included a $15 million mutual option for 2027 with a $2 million buyout. He became a first-time All-Star in 2025, going 14-8 with a 3.21 ERA, and was 10-5 with a 3.91 ERA this season.

Kelly, 32, gets a $1.5 million buyout rather than a $7.5 million salary as part of the $11.5 million, two-year deal he reached in December 2024. He hit .258 with 10 homers and 58 RBIs in 120 games this year.

Baltimore declined a $25 million mutual option on pitcher Zach Eflin and owes a $2 million buyout as part of a one-year contract guaranteeing $10 million. The right-hander made one appearance, on March 31, and had Tommy John surgery on April 8, his 32nd birthday.

First baseman Josh Bell became a free agent after his $10 million mutual option was declined by the Minnesota Twins. He gets a $1.25 million buyout as part of a $7 million, one-year contract. The 34-year-old hit .255 with 21 homers and 96 RBIs.

Minnesota also declined a $13 million mutual option on right-hander Joe Ryan, who gets a $100,000 buyout as part of a $6.2 million, one-year contract. Ryan remains under club control and is eligible for salary arbitration.

The Athletics declined options on infielder Jeff McNeil and left-hander Jeffrey Springs.

McNeil had a $15.75 million club option with a $2 million buyout as part of a $50 million, four-year contract he signed with the Mets after leading the major leagues with a .326 batting average in 2022. The 34-year-old was acquired in a trade last December and batted .264 with nine homers and 59 RBIs.

Springs' $15 million team option was declined in favor of a $750,000 buyout, completing a $15 million, four-year contract he signed with Tampa Bay. The 34-year-old left-hander, acquired by the A's in a December 2024 trade, was 4-14 with a 6.18 ERA in 29 starts this year and allowed an AL-high 35 home runs.

Kansas City declined a $13 million option on reliever Carlos Estévez, who gets a $2 million buyout as part of a $22 million, two-year contract. The 33-year-old right-hander led the major leagues with 42 saves in 2024, then made just one appearance this year during an injury-decimated season, allowing a game-ending grand slam to Atlanta's Dominic Smith on March 28.

Estévez was placed on the injured list April 1 because of a bruised left foot, strained the rotator cuff in his pitching shoulder during rehab and had shoulder surgery in September.

Kansas City exercised a $2.5 million club option on right-hander Tony Gonsolin, a 2022 All-Star with the Los Angeles Dodgers who signed in mid-August for a prorated portion of a $1 million salary. He had right elbow surgery in August 2025, made four minor league injury rehab appearances for the Royals last Aug. 26 to Sept. 17 and returned to the major leagues when he allowed five runs over 2 2/3 innings against the Chicago White Sox on Sept. 22.

Houston declined a $5 million team option on Ryan Weiss and owes a $500,000 buyout as part of a $2.6 million, one-year deal he signed after two years with Hanwha in South Korea. The 29-year-old right-hander was 0-3 with a 7.62 ERA in two starts and seven relief appearances, then was optioned to Triple-A Sugar Land on May 5 and spent the rest of the season at Triple-A.

Robert Stephenson's $2.5 million option was declined by the Los Angeles Angels. A 33-year-old right-hander, Stephenson signed a $33 million, three-year contract before the 2024 season and pitched just 10 innings over 12 games during the deal. He had Tommy John surgery in April 2024, returned to make a pair of appearances for the Angels in late May 2025, then went on the injured list with right biceps inflammation. Stephenson made eight more appearances in late August and September, was bothered by thoracic outlet syndrome symptoms during the offseason and had ligament and flexor tendon surgery this April.

See AP’s full MLB coverage here

FILE - New York Mets' Bo Bichette looks on before a baseball game against the Washington Nationals, Sept. 25, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Nick Wass, File)

FILE - Miami Marlins starting pitcher Sandy Alcantara works against a San Diego Padres batter in the first inning of a baseball game Sept. 20, 2026, in San Diego. (AP Photo/Karl Anderson, File)

LOS ANGELES (AP) — A federal appeals court on Friday rejected the Justice Department’s request for California to set aside disputed ballots received in the midterm election, and hours later another federal judge barred the department from intimidating election workers involved in processing those ballots.

The rulings Friday mark the latest setbacks for the Trump administration’s efforts to assert control over state-run elections.

The administration has alleged California sent ballots to some 20,000 people who may not be U.S. citizens. It wants the state to set those ballots aside and not count them until citizenship can be verified. California officials say the list is highly unreliable and most likely includes many people who are U.S. citizens.

A district court judge forcefully denied that request on Wednesday and warned that the Justice Department’s demands could disenfranchise citizens.

“As the district court found — and we discern no clear error — there is no feasible way to identify and segregate the ballots of specific individuals without potentially catastrophic effects on the entire system,” the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals panel wrote in its 2-1 ruling.

The majority opinion was authored by Judge Mark J. Bennett, who was appointed by President Donald Trump, and Judge Gabriel P. Sanchez, who was appointed by former President Joe Biden.

A Justice Department spokesperson did not immediately respond to requests for comment on the rulings. But in a statement about the sweeping efforts to root out noncitizen voting, it said: “Federal law prohibits noncitizens from voting. Enforcing that law is not an agenda item. It is the Department’s job."

Millions of people have already voted in California in the midterm election that concludes Tuesday. Hundreds of thousands of ballots have already been processed. Elections officials have said that processed votes can’t be matched back to the voters who submitted them.

Elsewhere, the Trump administration issued a raft of subpoenas in Alaska in a spoiler-candidate controversy. The Justice Department has also provided a list of alleged noncitizen voters to officials in Washington state.

Lawyers for the Justice Department have previously said they will appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court.

In his dissent, Judge Patrick J. Bumatay argued that California’s unwillingness to separate the ballots encourages the “violation of federal law.”

“California says it can do nothing to prevent illegal voting,” Bumatay, who was appointed by Trump, wrote. “That undermines the federal government’s interest in promoting election integrity and preventing the dilution of lawful votes.”

Later Friday, a federal judge in California barred the Justice Department from threatening or coercing election workers to stop processing ballots.

The order issued by U.S. District Judge Trina L. Thompson in the Northern District of California was in response to a suit filed earlier Friday by labor unions seeking to bar the Justice Department from intimidating election workers.

Notably, the emergency order was issued without the Department of Justice weighing in on the case.

“Election Day is around the corner,” wrote Thompson, who was nominated by former President Joe Biden. “Ballots have already been issued. Americans have already begun voting. Workers have already begun processing ballots. Given the consequences of inaction, the Court sees no reason to delay its ruling.”

It also bars the Justice Department from demanding local election officials segregate or not count ballots that the federal government deems may have been cast by ineligible voters.

“This ruling is a victory for the workers who make our elections possible and the communities they serve” April Verrett, president of the Service Employees International Union, said in a statement Friday night.

The top federal prosecutor in Los Angeles, Bill Essayli, has warned that “any election official who knowingly processes the ballot of a noncitizen is opening themselves to legal jeopardy.”

On Thursday, The Associated Press obtained subpoenas issued to election officials in Los Angeles County. The subpoenas request any documents and communications related to letters sent in July and October by federal officials to state election officials outlining the allegations about noncitizen voters. They also seek any information about efforts to prevent noncitizen votes from being counted. At least three L.A. County election officials have been asked to appear before a grand jury the day after the election.

It is unclear whether the Justice Department intends to bring criminal charges against anyone. The department does not typically subpoena people whom it regards as targets of a criminal investigation to appear before a grand jury.

In a third Friday ruling, another federal judge ordered the Trump administration to share the disputed list of names with lawyers for the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights and the UCLA Voting Rights Project. They want to examine who is on the list and assess its impact on eligible voters.

It will be the first time that a nongovernment organization will have the opportunity to evaluate the merits of the list of some 20,000 names. The federal government promptly appealed the decision on Friday evening.

The Democratic candidate for California governor, Xavier Becerra, is an adviser to the UCLA Voting Rights Project.

The two groups sued the Homeland Security Department in early October to prevent it from using federal immigration data to challenge state voter rolls. The lawsuit cited examples in other states where the federal government’s data has been proven to mistakenly include thousands of citizens. It argued that the data-matching methods risk disenfranchising or deterring citizens from voting. On top of that, plaintiffs argued, the lists could disproportionately target naturalized citizens who are legally entitled to vote.

The Justice Department argues that there is just as much to lose if the ballots aren’t separated.

“Every ballot cast by an ineligible voter cancels out the vote of an American citizen," Kiersten V. Pels, a spokesperson for the department, wrote in an email. "The Department makes no apology for protecting those votes.”

In a separate but related 9th Circuit Court decision on Friday, a panel of judges ruled that federal investigations into illegal voting by noncitizens will remain on hold in nine states until after Election Day.

The judges, all nominated by Democratic presidents, found that the aggressive and public investigations led some citizens to decide not to engage in election-related activities out of fear of being wrongly targeted.

The judges said the investigations, which are looking into alleged illegal voting in past elections, can resume after the midterms wrap up Tuesday.

Associated Press writer Swenson reported from New York; Mulvihill reported from Haddonfield, New Jersey.

FILE - Ballots are inspected the day after California's primary election at the Los Angeles County Ballot Processing Center, June 3, 2026, in City of Industry, Calif. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong, File)